Bar & Hotel Shop's

I have seen a bar shop available with a $75 fee for almost a week and no one has taken it. Is there something wrong or hard about them? I did read a reply from an experienced shopper about a bar shop and it didn't sound too bad, so I'm just wondering. My other question is about hotel shop's. I know you have to put up a pretty good amount of money upfront and wait for reimbursement, but aside from the money are they really difficult? I personally wouldn't mind doing either shop, but I don't want to take it do a poor job or be in over my head and be out of hundreds of dollars (I wish money were no object, lol). I have only been mystery shopping for about a month and a half. Thanks for your help.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Already a member? Log In.

I'm new at this, and can't speak for experience about those shops, but I think there's a chance that one or more shoppers have applied, and the scheduler just hasn't made the assignment yet. (Obviously, if it says the shop is due tomorrow, I'm wrong.)
The one here has not been taken yet. It is an evening shop and the barely passable roads during the day have been even more treacherous at night. There is also a requirement for the shopper or their guest to be under 28. I don't consider them hard, but there is a lot of detail required for bar integrity shops.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Thanks LisaSTL, we are in the same area (although, I'm on the other side of the river). I thought they sent out an email for that one before it started to snow, so I thought maybe it was due to the difficulty of the shop.

Thanks Ishmael.
Actually the first date for it would have been Saturday night. The forecasts had the snow moving in any time from the afternoon until the evening. The storm was late, but I wasn't going to take that chancesmiling smiley

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Speaking of bars, what challenges do non-drinkers face, when they do fine dining shops? I see references to 'sit in the bar before you go do the dining area'. Would you be able to order a Virgin Mary, or would they think that that made you too conspicuous? On the other hand, I imagine that they don't really want their shoppers getting sloshed....

What about wine at dinner? Could you get away with ordering name-brand water?
You would have to check the individual requirements. Normally some alcoholic beverages need to be ordered. The limits can cause me more problems since my friends don't want to sit somewhere for a few hours and be limited to just one drinkwinking smiley The one we are talking about is a bar only shop and requires two rounds of alcoholic beverages. I didn't see a limit on that one, but two rounds in 90 minutes is certainly enough.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Agree with Lisa. Usually when there is a bar portion to the shop, the requirement is that you order at least one alcoholic beverage - it can usually be beer, wine, mixed drink, etc...... When they say that you are required to order wine with dinner, they mean exactly that: order wine with dinner. You cannot get away with ordering anything else. Particularly with fine dining, if there are ordering requirements, be sure to follow them exactly.
I've seen some similar to this listed in my area and they also have been sitting around for a while. I have a good friend whose under 28 so that part is no problem but I'm personally not a wine person. So I personally would not want to look conspicuous at a fine dining/bar shop when I know nothing about wine and neither does my friend. The other factor for is the cost to do these right now. If I mess up at a casual dining place it's no biggie. If I mess up at a place where the usual check is at least 150.00 that would make me pout.

Floating around like a feather hoping the wind will set me down somewhere awesome.
Sometimes they sit because of the time restrictions. Clients want the shops done on Friday from 8 to 9:30 pm for example. Or it's a lunch shop and most shoppers in that area work full time and don't have time to do the shop or have a drink at lunch and go back to work.

And sometimes is a reimbursement only and shoppers don't want to trade their time for a meal. They want to be paid for their time as well.

Personally, I don't mind reimbursement only. I get to eat out more often because my money is coming back to me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2014 10:46PM by Sallyctcss.
For practice, do the Texas Roadhouse ones (or something similar). They usually don't cost as much as a regular fine dining but give you about the same amount of narrative and timings (so you don't have as much money tied up.) The big difference in these and fine dining other than the money is that the finer the place is, you will be more likely to have multiple parts to the report such as a separate bar part or valet, etc.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.
Wait a minute...who is doing bar shops for $75? The best I've gotten is $30. One company always wants me to do them, but bar shops stress me out, and they only pay $25 plus a partial reimbursement. No thanks. So much observation, so much writing, and possible accidental intoxication.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login